After their defeat against Australia in the 2025 Champions Trophy, Nasser Hussain voiced that England needed someone like Ben Stokes to restore the balance of their XI.
England seemed to be safely placed after Ben Duckett smashed 165, the highest score in the history of the Champions Trophy, to take them to 351-8 against an Australian attack that lacked Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins.
No team had ever chased a bigger total in the history of the tournament or, if one includes the World Cup, any ICC-organised ODI competition. The balances seemed even more tilted in England’s favour when they had Australia at 27-2 and then 136-4, especially since Australia were without Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Cam Green.
However, Josh Inglis (120 not out in 86) balls, Alex Carey (69 in 63), and Glenn Maxwell (32 not out in 15) saw the Australians home with 15 balls to spare.
Nasser Hussain: England can't work out their balance
“Australia [were] missing all their players,” Hussain told Sky Sports after the game. “The expectancy was there... today may not be their day. Maybe they will miss their bowling attack. I think England ... when Duckett was smashing it and got 165, and [they were] getting up towards 350-plus, you were thinking maybe England have found a formula. Maybe these conditions will suit England.”
Hussain elaborated on how the lack of an all-rounder harmed England. In an attempt to bolster their batting, they trusted their part-timers to fill in as the fifth bowler: between them, Liam Livingstone and Joe Root had figures of 1-73 in 11 overs.
“They can’t work out whether to play the extra batter, which they did today,” added Hussain. “That means their bowling is a bit short. Or play one of their bowling all-rounders, [Gus] Atkinson or [Jamie] Overton. But then, their batting would have been short.”
Hussain emphasised on the importance of Ben Stokes, who would have added balance to the playing XI: “I think recent cricket has shown the value of one individual, and that is Ben Stokes. That Ben Stokes character and individual makes your balance of batting and bowling much more comfortable, and I think he’s a big loss.”
It is worth a mention that Stokes has not played List A cricket (let alone ODIs) since the 2023 World Cup, or T20Is for England since the 2022 T20 World Cup. In 2024, his only limited-overs appearances were three games for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
